India's top military officer CDS General Bipin Rawat dies in helicopter crash

The Indian Air Force on Wednesday evening confirmed that India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, and his wife Madhulika Rawat were among the 13 people killed in the chopper crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor.

The IAF said Group Captain Varun Singh is the lone survivor among the 14 occupants and is currently under treatment at Military Hospital in Wellington.

General Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College in the Nilgiri Hills to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course.

Around noon, an IAF Mi 17 V5 helicopter with a crew of 4 members carrying General Rawat and 9 other passengers met with a tragic accident near Coonoor.

The helicopter was on its way from Sulur in Coimbatore and was heading to Wellington, where Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane was also slated to participate in the event.

The chopper crashed in the forest area, reportedly due to poor visibility following heavy fog. The IAF said a Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the accident.

ALSO WATCH: When Bipin Rawat survived a crash in Nagaland's Dimapur in 2015

The accident site was a scene of despair with trees being reduced to broken pieces under the impact of the crash, flames from the chopper engulfing the wooden logs resulting in billowing smoke and personnel scurrying to douse the fire,

The mangled and burnt remains of the ill-fated IAF chopper were strewn along the site, even as rescue services personnel were seen carrying bodies in stretchers to be transported through waiting ambulances.